Various types of diagnostic and therapeutic sensors and electrodes may be located at the distal end of medical probes for positioning, mapping and/or treatment applications. The sensors or electrodes at the distal end of the probe are typically connected to an external system via wires traversing the probe.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,769, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a catheter for performing a medical operation on an organic lumen, the catheter including an elongated member, a medical operational element located at a distal end of the elongated member, an electromagnetic field detector located at the distal end, and a wiring for coupling the electromagnetic field detector with a medical positioning system, wherein the medical positioning system determines the position and orientation of the distal end.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0182014, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a magnetic resonance imaging device, which includes an elongate flexible member having a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen extending between the proximal end and the distal end and a solenoid coil affixed to the distal end of the elongate flexible member, the solenoid coil having a plurality of wire turns, the solenoid coil connected to a twisted-pair of leads extending proximally along the length of the flexible member. A connector is disposed at the proximal end of the elongate flexible member, the connector operatively coupled to the twisted-pair of leads. In an alternative embodiment, a coaxial cable substitutes for the lumen-containing elongate flexible member.
Some medical probes have distal ends that comprise multiple arms and/or multiple electrodes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,402, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes systems and related methods for guiding a movable electrode within an array of multiple electrodes located within the body. The systems and methods employ the movable electrode or at least one of the multiple electrodes on the array to generate and then sense electrical or sonic energy in a predetermined fashion to generate an output that locates the movable electrode within the array.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,492, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a catheter for measuring physiological signals in a heart. The catheter comprises a structure at a distal end of the catheter wherein the structure has a plurality of arms, an electrode fixed to each arm and a device for generating position information located on each arm. The arms are located near the long axis of the catheter during insertion of the catheter within a heart and the arms are spreadable apart and away from the long axis of the catheter when the structure is within the heart.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,226,580, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for operating a medical probe. The method includes pressing a distal end of the medical probe, which includes one or more arms that extend diagonally outward from a central shaft and have respective position transducers coupled thereto, against an intra-body surface, so as to cause the arms to exert pressure on the surface and bend with respect to the central shaft in response to the pressure. Positions of the respective position transducers coupled to the arms are measured, and the pressure exerted by the arms is estimated responsively to the measured positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,045, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a catheter for mapping the Purkinje fibers for potential diagnosis of ventricular fibrillation. The catheter comprises an elongated catheter body having proximal and distal ends and at least one lumen extending longitudinally there through. Mounted at the distal end of the catheter body is a mapping assembly having at least two spines, each having a proximal end attached at the distal end of the catheter body and a free distal end. Each spine comprises at least one electrode, preferably a tip electrode and at least one ring electrode. The spines may be arranged in an expanded arrangement wherein each spine extends radially outwardly from the catheter body or in a collapsed arrangement wherein each spine is disposed generally along the longitudinal axis of the catheter body.